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“Secondary traumatic stress has been documented in the spouses of veterans with PTSD from Vietnam. And the spouses of Israeli veterans with PTSD, and Dutch veterans with PTSD.”
- “Secondary traumatic stress” is claimed to be a type of PTSD, but is not an actual disorder.
- “documented” is just the record, not an actual study completed. We do not know how it was documented or if a study was even done.
- “Spouses of veterans” only indicates spouses were studied and taken into consideration of secondary PTSD. This could show not everyone in a household was studied or documented.
- “Spouses of Israeli veterans with PTSD, and Dutch veterans with PTSD” shows different people, that could have fought in different wars. All of these veterans could have different ways of life and ways they fought.
“In one study, the incidence of secondary trauma in wives of Croatian war vets with PTSD was 30 percent. In another study there, it was 39 percent.”
- “One study” does not show a whole picture. We cannot conclude secondary PTSD is real with one study being shown.
- “incidence of secondary trauma in wives of Croatian war vets” does not show how many wives were actually studied. It could be two wives or two hundred wives.
- “30 percent” gives us a number of just this group. We still also do not know what this 30 percent is out of. We cannot conclude this an accurate representation of a whole population of veteran’s wives.
- “another study” is just a basic statement that another test was done. This does not give us a representation of how many people were actually studied.
- “39 percent” is still a basic number that can represent some many different things. We do not know who was studied and what each wife has been though.
“’Trauma is really not something that happens to an individual,’ says Robert Motta, a clinical psychologist and psychology professor at Hofstra University who wrote a few of the many medical-journal articles about secondary trauma in Vietnam vets’ families.”
- “really not something that happens to an individual” does not make too much sense. There are many types of trauma someone can have and some types just cannot be contagious.
- “a few of the many medical-journal articles about secondary trauma in Vietnam vets’ families.” a few does not give a very exact number. We cannot know how knowledgeable he is if it’s just a few. Also, if it is only Vietnam war vets, that’s only a small portion of veterans.
“Katie Vines, the first time I meet her, is in trouble. Not that you’d know it to look at her, bounding up to the car, blondish bob flying as she sprints from her kindergarten class, nice round face like her daddy’s. No one’s the wiser until she cheerfully hands her mother a folder from the backseat she’s hopped into.”
- “the first time I meet her” shows that it is only one occasion. We do not know if this has happened before or not if it is only the first time meeting Katie.
- “she sprints from her kindergarten class” could just mean what she does shows her age if shes only in kindergarten.
- “Not that you’d know it to look at her, bounding up to the car, blondish bob flying as she sprints from her kindergarten class” shows us that Katie looks normal on the outside, but has something wrong on the inside.
- “nice round face like her daddy’s” is comparing a kindergartner to a war vet with PTSD. That is not something you can do because they are have two different mindsets.
- “No one’s the wiser until she cheerfully hands her mother a folder” shows Katie does not seem to know or understand she did something wrong.
“’It says here,’ Brannan says, her eyes narrowing incredulously, ‘that you spit on somebody today.’”
- “It says here” is a second hand source. We do not know the whole story from just this note.
- “you spit on somebody today” seems like something normal kids do sometimes because they do not completely understand right from wrong. Again, we cannot compare a normal child to a veteran.
“’Yes ma’am,’ Katie admits, lowering her voice and her eyes guiltily.”
- “lowering her voice and her eyes guiltily” tells us maybe Katie did know it was wrong.
“Her schoolmate said something mean. Maybe. Katie doesn’t sound sure, or like she remembers exactly. One thing she’s positive of: “She just made me…so. MAD.” Brannan asks Katie to name some of the alternatives. “Walk away, get the teacher, yes ma’am, no ma’am,” Katie dutifully responds to the prompts. She looks disappointed in herself. Her eyebrows are heavily creased when she shakes her head and says quietly again, “I was so mad.”
- “Her schoolmate said something mean. Maybe. Katie doesn’t sound sure, or like she remembers exactly” doesn’t seem like something that proves that PTSD is contagious. Katie is a young child, and normal children try to cover what happened.
- “‘She just made me…so. MAD'” may tell us the other students did something to cause Katie to spit on her.
- “She looks disappointed in herself. Her eyebrows are heavily creased when she shakes her head and says quietly again, ‘I was so mad.'” implies Katie knows what she did, but could not help herself and got very mad.
Rowan Counterintuitive 
“Secondary traumatic stress has been documented in the spouses of veterans with PTSD from Vietnam. And the spouses of Israeli veterans with PTSD, and Dutch veterans with PTSD.”
You analyze the few claims made above perfectly well, LB, with one odd exception. The exercise is to identify and evaluate what claims are being made, not to argue their truth. I fully respect that you wish to dispute the existence of “secondary traumatic stress,” but that’s not an evaluation of the claim. If the author somehow described STS to indicate that SHE disputed its existence, that sort of claim evaluation would be right on target.
“In one study, the incidence of secondary trauma in wives of Croatian war vets with PTSD was 30 percent. In another study there, it was 39 percent.”
“One study” does not show a whole picture. We cannot conclude secondary PTSD is real with one study being shown.
—You’re exactly right about the thinness of a claim made on the basis of one study. But you might be confusing “secondary stress” with “PTSD.” The author isn’t claiming here that wives have developed a medical syndrome. She certainly isn’t claiming in this sentence that it was “caught” from their husbands by way of contagion. She’s claiming that it’s stressful to live with a war veteran. Isn’t that a fair reading?
“’Trauma is really not something that happens to an individual,’ says Robert Motta, a clinical psychologist and psychology professor at Hofstra University who wrote a few of the many medical-journal articles about secondary trauma in Vietnam vets’ families.”
“really not something that happens to an individual” does not make too much sense. There are many types of trauma someone can have and some types just cannot be contagious.
—I completely concur. What is trauma IF NOT something that happens to an individual? But your own further claim is equally confusing. What do you mean by “some types just cannot be contagious”? Some are but others aren’t?
“Katie Vines, the first time I meet her, is in trouble. Not that you’d know it to look at her, bounding up to the car, blondish bob flying as she sprints from her kindergarten class, nice round face like her daddy’s. No one’s the wiser until she cheerfully hands her mother a folder from the backseat she’s hopped into.”
“nice round face like her daddy’s” is comparing a kindergartner to a war vet with PTSD. That is not something you can do because they are have two different mindsets.
—This one puzzles me. Why can their faces not be compared?
“you spit on somebody today” seems like something normal kids do sometimes because they do not completely understand right from wrong. Again, we cannot compare a normal child to a veteran.
—This provides me a clue. Maybe you think we’re being set up with the similar faces comment to look for similarities where there are none between Katie and Caleb. That could be a clever rhetorical device if it’s true. Have I solved that riddle?
You’re doing good work here, LB, and your antennae are tuned to the nuances of the author’s intentions. I would just caution you that your own resistance to the author’s apparent thesis is evident in your analysis. You may and should resist being manipulated, but you should also remain fair in your assessment of the source.
A study that documents stress IS NOT A CLAIM that PTSD is contagious. But if the author uses it AS EVIDENCE of contagion, then yes, call her out on that abuse.
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